I Knew I Loved You
by Warriormaid 3000
Summary: Rachel and Tobias songfic to the song "I knew I loved You" by Savage Gardens.


**A/N: **I've always been a fan of RachelTobias fluff, so here's my first attempt at writing it. Songfic to "I knew I loved You" by Savage Gardens. {} will stand for thought-speak, since isn't accepting for some reason. Grr...well, anyways, hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own the song or the Animorph books. If I did, I'd be one rich kid.

**Maybe it's intuition  
But some things you just don't question ****Like in your eyes  
I see my future in an instant  
and there it goes ****I think I've found my best friend**

"You can spread out around the room for this assignment," the teacher said. Tobias immediately grabbed his books and moved to an empty table in the back of the room. Throwing his books on the table, he began to work on the handout.

"Can I sit here?"

He looked up from his math book to see Rachel standing next to the table. "Oh…yeah, sure." A little pleasantly suprised, he cleared some room for her.

Rachel grinned, before grabbing the empty seat next to Tobias. "Thanks."

"Hey, no problem," he replied, but not before giving her a slight smile.

Rachel immediately began to tackle the math problems on the sheet, but her mind wouldn't focus on the exponents and equations, but wandered to Tobias. _He's cute, _she thought, _but I can't tell him that…_

Tobias began doodling on the edge of his paper, letting his concentration drift off. _Rachel's really pretty, _he thought, _and smart…_his cheeks flared when he saw what he had scribbled – their names circled by a heart.

**I know that it might sound more than  
a little crazy but I believe  
  
**

Rachel walked down the center aisle, past the row where the animorphs were sitting somewhat together, with the three other students receiving the Packard student award. Marco did a phony idol bow, and she rolled her eyes. _Well…what do you expect from Marco._

She looked down the rest of the row…to Cassie, giving her the thumbs up…past Jake, grinning. Then she saw the kid he was sitting next to, and her jaw literally dropped open. Dirty blond hair partially covering his eyes, in a way that looked slightly uncombed. Eyes that looked tender and hurt at the same time…

_Oh my goodness…_she thought, _this isn't happening._

Tobias looked up, and grinned. "Hey Rachel."

**I loved you before I met you  
I think I dreamed you into life  
I knew I loved you before I met you  
I have been waiting all my life**

In the forest, only a few days ago...

They were in hork-bajir morph, sprinting together through the thick undergrowth of forest. Not far behind them, Visser Three and his controllers chased them relentlessly, never letting down their speed. Rachel and Tobias pressed on, panting for breath, and put on a final sprint, knowing the cliff was near.

As they neared the edge of the chasm, Tobias said quietly If…if something happens, I just want to tell you that…

[I know] Rachel said softly. [I do to]

**There's just no rhyme or reason  
only this sense of completion  
and in your eyes  
I see the missing pieces  
I'm searching for  
I think I found my way home  
  
**Rachel had left the window open on purpose. Tobias swooped into her room, and landed on her desk, where a cake was waiting. 

"Hey," she said, grinning her reckless "Rachel" grin. "Hope you like vanilla."

[Sounds great. Thanks for…well…thanks for everything] he said. Then, flapping his wing, he put out the candles on the cake.

"Happy birthday, Tobias," she said, simply.

[You know,] he said quietly, looking up at her, [that's the first time anyone's ever wished me happy birthday]

**I know that it might sound more than  
a little crazy but I believe**

In the time of the dinosaurs, a thousand miles away from home; Tobias and Rachel stood together, watching the red sun slowly sink beneath the jagged cliffs on the horizon, enjoying the moment while it lasted. Neither knew-or was eager to find out- what the darkness of night would bring in this strange new world, but at the present, the slowly sinking sun, the pink and gold florescent streaks in the sky, created a breathtaking…almost _outworldly _beauty.__

We're in a pretty bad situation, huh Tobias said, almost conversationally, to her.

"Well, the way I see it, we're a million years from our own time, we have know idea where everyone else is…not to mention that my morphing suit is not in its best state."

Rachel paused… " But the funny thing is…right now, it feels like everything's okay."

[Why Tobias teased], [Because of the sunset?]

"No," she said, swatting at him. She turned serious. " It's because we're still together"

**  
I knew I loved you before I met you  
I think I dreamed you into life  
I knew I loved you before I met you  
I have been waiting all my life**

The night of the school dance. The gym floor was filled with students talking and laughing in groups, standing around the snack bar, on the dance floor. Tobias shifted uncomfortably in the clothes Rachel had picked up for him, grinning slightly at the thought that he probably looked like a poster boy for Tommy Hilfiger.

Ax shuffled up beside the animorphs, holding two large frosted cookies, cream smeared all over his lips. "These cookies are very tasty. Tast. Tee. Tee." He remarked.

Marco rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't do that within earshot of my Language Arts teacher," he warned, eying the middle-aged women standing near them. "She'd probably send you to a help center for that."

Just then, Marisa walked by, and Marco ran after her, trying to get a dance with her.

"Come on," they heard him protest, trying to keep up with her. "Just cuz I'm not a classical music fan…"

"I really thought he'd give up on her after blowing that music date," Jake remarked to Cassie, before they stepped onto the dance floor and began dancing along with the others.

The gym grew quiet, as a new song drifted across the gym.

"_Maybe it's just intuition_…"

"Wanna dance?" Rachel asked.

"Did you really need to ask?" he asked, and laughing, he swept her onto the dance floor. Putting a hand around her waist, they began to dance.

"It was a mere formality," Rachel replied, putting a hand on his shoulder, as they swayed in time to the music. Her sapphire eyes locked onto Tobias's stormy gray ones, and they both smiled.

**A thousand angels dance around you  
I am complete now that I found you**

flashback

The hours of torture were over. Tobias stood on the beach with Rachel two days after his encounter with Taylor. He was still trying to forget the pain, the memories, Taylor's harsh voice sounding in his head.

_She's wrong, _he thought. _I do know who I am. _He was a hawk. A human.

The person Rachel loved.

"Let's fly," he said.

"After this," Rachel grinned, leaned in, and kissed him. It was brief, simple, but it meant the world to Tobias.

_That's who I. _He smiled. _The one Rachel loves._

"Now let's fly."

Minutes later, a red-tailed hawk and a bald eagle soared through the pure blue sky, side by side.

**I knew I loved you before I met you  
I think I dreamed you into life  
I knew I loved you before I met you  
I have been waiting all my life**

As the music began to draw to a close, Rachel leaned in. "Come on," she said, "let's go fly."

"Now you're talking," Tobias grinned.

Silently, Rachel and Tobias crept out of the gym, unnoticed. Silently slipping out the back doors, they stepped out into the cool night. Silvery specks of moonlight shone across the parking lot and surrounding woods, above them, the sky glittered with tiny stars, like small gems scattered across a pure black satin backdrop.

"It's beautiful," Rachel breathed.

"Perfect night for flying, isn't it?"

Together, Rachel and Tobias walked away from the school, into the moonlit woods. As they left the campus, a gentle breeze drifted across the parking lot, carrying the last few lines of the song…

"_I knew I loved you before I met you_"


End file.
